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May 2024
Teaching Note

Making Progress at Progress Software (A) and (B)

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman, Hannah Riley Bowles, Emma Ronzetti and Alexis Lefort

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 924-010 and 924-011. View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Prejudice and Bias; Employee Relationship Management; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry

01 Mar 2023
News

Research Brief: Great Expectations

The narrative surrounding employees who are passionate about their jobs holds so much sway in today’s workplace that it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. “Ultimately, if you believe in a passionate person, they will View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

January 10, 2022
Article

The Secret Ingredient of Thriving Companies? Human Magic

By: Hubert Joly

The traditional corporate approach to motivating people has been a combination of carrots and sticks: a system of financial incentives designed to mobilize everyone around a plan designed by a few smart people at the top. Multiple studies have confirmed that, for any... View Details

Keywords: Meaning; Purpose; Organizational Culture; Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Performance

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March 2008
Exercise

Exercise: Challenging Operational Assumptions

By: Frances X. Frei

This exercise provides students with an opportunity to thoroughly test an operating assumption. Students state an assumption as a testable hypothesis, collect and analyze relevant data, and communicate the results. At HBS, it is incorporated in a second-year elective... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Employees; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Service Operations; Performance Improvement

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06 Jun 2012
What Do You Think?

Is Something Wrong with the Way We Work?

European countries where vacations are mandated, most employees take their prescribed amounts of time off. In America, where vacation time is not mandated, roughly half of workers last year had vacation time left over and failed to take... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consulting

October 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

RKO Warner Video, Inc.: Incentive Compensation Plan

By: George P. Baker III

Details the design and implementation of an incentive bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for top management of the chain is to induce the store managers to "sweat the details," to keep the stores neat and well organized, and to deal courteously and... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change; Strategic Planning; Performance Improvement; Sales; Management; Employee Relationship Management; Situation or Environment; Success; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

30 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Measuring the Efficacy of the World’s Managers

and incentives—whether organizations promoted and rewarded employees based on performance and tried to keep the best performers from quitting. To collect the data, the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

22 Jan 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Why You Are Unhappy at Work

feeling. What can be done to improve the office environment? Research by Harvard Business School professors suggests these problems are not only common—but solvable. Here are some of our most insightful stories about unmotivated employees... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 2003 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Pension Policy at The Boots Company PLC

By: Luis M. Viceira and Akiko M. Mitsui

In early 2000, the trustees of the pension scheme at Boots considered a proposal to move 100% of the pension assets into a bond portfolio, which would be passively managed. The Boots Co. PLC was a leading retailer of cosmetics and toiletries in the United Kingdom, and... View Details

Keywords: Performance Productivity; Employees; Asset Management; Capital Structure; Investment Portfolio; Consumer Products Industry; United Kingdom

March 1999
Case

MotivAction plc (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

The owner/manager of MotivAction is developing a package of incentives and bonuses that he hopes will stimulate sales growth, encourage development of new autonomous teams, and increase profitability. If they are adopted, these new incentives will replace others... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Improvement; Growth and Development Strategy; Decisions; Profit; Organizational Culture

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Web

Systems for Scaling Ventures (SSV) - Course Catalog

b. Driving results . Employees in growth-stage ventures must explore new opportunities in the market while driving the growth of offerings where the organization has already achieved product-market fit. You will learn how to design View Details

05 Jun 2013
What Do You Think?

Do We Need to Extend ‘No Surprises Management?’

employees in the dark and constantly surprising them is a serious form of disrespect." Bert Baker linked it to integrity with this comment: "When I know that my manager is a person of integrity, then I know they will not... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

08 May 2015
News

Adopting a common language can strengthen global companies

language must also equip their employees to work together more effectively,” she says. According to Neeley, common-language mandates tend to be poorly implemented, leaving employees feeling diminished and... View Details

02 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2011

versus persistent) of performance feedback affects an employee's job productivity. Specifically, through field experiments at a Japanese bank, they investigate the extent to which job performance is affected... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

October 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Citizens Bank

By: Rajiv Lal and Arar Han

In November 2004, Larry Fish, chairman of Citizens Bank, is wondering about the challenges posed by the latest and largest acquisition in the history of the bank. Fish has always believed that the success of Citizens thus far was facilitated by the credo he introduced... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Leading Change; Performance Effectiveness; Banking Industry

24 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Managing Alignment as a Process

of organizational alignment—the primary focus of this book—the enterprise must also align its employees and management processes with the strategy. Having aligned and integrated strategies at all organizational units yields little if... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Retail

William C. MacInnes

MacInnes was instrumental in orchestrating the growth of TECO Energy from a small $17 million operation with 700 employees to an $860 million enterprise with 3,500 employees. While ridiculed at the time, MacInnes converted TECO’s power... View Details

Keywords: Utilities & Energy

February 2008
Case

SPECIALISTERNE: Sense & Details

Three-quarters of Specialisterne's expert software testing staff are diagnosed with some form of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Usually a handicap, ASD conveys talents especially suited to software testing and other highly repetitive tasks that require very high... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Health Disorders; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Quality; Software; Information Technology Industry